March 28, 2024

Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation campaign reported in Mail on Sunday

An excellent article yesterday on the state of Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation’s campaign and retirement leasehold in the Mail on Sunday. It was written by Richard Dyson and is the second piece by Richard on leasehold in two weeks. It can be read here.

Entitled ‘I beat bullying managing agents on excessive charges’: Retirement home owners fight for fairness as prices fall’, the article referred to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP’s effective lobbying of MPs two weeks ago.

Leasehold issues are now coming to the fore of the political agenda. No one is seriously persuaded that the commercial interests involved can self-regulate this scandal-ridden property sector.

The issues of Plantation Wharf (see below) take matters to a new level, but have distracted us from reporting on the MPs getting involved in the issues.

The Mail on Sunday report the issues concerning Strand Court in Rye, where Peverel lost £11,500 in a humiliating LVT defeat. It was criticised for “arrogance” and “the intentional hiding of information to which residents would have been entitled” by doling out contracts to their own subsidiaries.

These were the old regulars Kingsborough insurance and Cirrus door entry systems. The piece featured activist Mary Smith, 65, a local councillor, who is now selling up at Strand Court. She wants to have her “own front door again”.

The report refers to Janet Entwistle as the “new” chief executive at Peverel. But she has been in place since March, and apart from some bluster it is difficult to see what has changed.

The old Peverel politburo are still in place, although Keith Edgar, of Peverel Retirement, enjoys his own overdue retirement next month, and Lee Middleburgh remains adhered to his post.

Peverel is still maintaining its customary level of service to the only serious client who matters: the Tchenguiz Family Trust that owns the majority of its freeholds.

The leaseholders are, and will remain, secondary.